Read it Differently - Helaman 5:12

Helaman 5:12.  Read it differently.

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind; yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I believe I have commented on this verse before.  Lately it's been fresh on my mind, and today I was guided to read here first.  I think oftentimes, when we grown up reading verses in church which are "scripture mastery" or often read, we tend to read them in a rhythm and our brain bypasses the true meaning.  I have this one memorized from when I was 16 or so, but all I think of is Christ as a sure foundation.  There's more to it.

Then the devil sends his mighty winds.  Oh wait – do we even believe in the devil anymore?  How can he send forth mighty winds?  Do those exist?

Yea, his shafts in the whirlwind.  What are shafts?  Is this like when we have a tornado, and things are flying in the air, and if you're not careful you get impaled?  Like you're just minding your own business, and things come out of nowhere and punch you in the gut?  Just when things are going well, something random comes and messes things up big time.

Yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you.  These seem more predictable.  You see them coming.  Dark clouds gathering, winds building, thunder and lightening.  And then the hail just beats and beats upon you until it leaves dents and bruises, just like on the cars in the car lot.  The damage takes a long time to fix, but it's repairable.

It shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo.  How many times does the hail and mighty storm get us down?  In the last few months I feel like I've been pounded upon.  Why?

Where was my foundation?  I say it is Christ, but I believe I have been pushed to and fro because it was not sufficiently on Christ.

My foundation was on money, business, other peoples' opinions,..

If it were truly on Christ, would the devil have any power over me, to bring me down to the gulf of misery?  Would I be miserable?  

 

Helaman 5:12

Dear Daniel,

This is for you and everyone.

"And now, Daniel, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that you must build your foundation that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which you are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12, adapted to your name)

This morning I was led to read Helaman 5:10.  It turns out my friend (who doesn't really know me, but I'd like to consider him my friend) got spanked and excommunicated by the church.  Amazingly, he seems to feel no hostility or resentment toward anyone involved.  I am amazed by his pure love of Christ.

Helaman 5:10 tells me

And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom (these are pretty awesome words, and I do remember them) in the city of Ammonihah (which had since become destroyed, as he and Alma warned/prophecied); for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

Big difference noted.  The Lord will not come to redeem us in our sins, but from our sins.  What, exactly, does that mean?  The next verse tells us that the difference is repentance.  And I learned from Denver and my other friend Daniel that repent means "to turn" to God.  Denver wrote that to repent in Greek means "to come home".  I really love that, much better than the Latin translation, "to feel sorrow" or "to feel pain".  Interesting, indeed, that we choose the negative connotation.  God would have us return home, wouldn't he?

I love you.
~Mom<3